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The Use of Nitrogen Isotopic Ratio for Reconstruction of Past Changes in Surface Ocean Nutrient Utilization

  • Conference paper
Carbon Cycling in the Glacial Ocean: Constraints on the Ocean’s Role in Global Change

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASII,volume 17))

Abstract

Sedimentary 15N/14N ratios can be used as a unique measure of past changes in surface ocean nutrient utilization which in turn is a function of past changes in productivity and nutrient input from deeper waters. Due to isotopic fractionation during nitrate uptake by phytoplankton, partial nutrient utilization produces substantial 15N enrichment in particulate matter reaching the seafloor. Examples are given from the N. Atlantic, Equatorial Pacific, and Southern Ocean. In the latter two regions large variations in nutrient utilization with latitude are observed which go along with gradients in both near-surface ocean and core top 15N/14N. Thus isotopic signals generated in surface waters are transferred and preserved in sediments. First down core results from the Southern Ocean indicate that only modest increases in nutrient utilization and perhaps productivity occured in Subantarctic waters uring the last glacial maximum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    M. A. Altabet & R. Francois

Authors
  1. M. A. Altabet
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  2. R. Francois
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. GEOMAR Forschungszentrum für Marine Geowissenschaften, Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Wischhofstraße 1-3, D-24148, Kiel, Germany

    Rainer Zahn

  2. Department of Oceanography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6T 1W5

    Thomas F. Pedersen

  3. Micropalaeontology Unit Department of Geological Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Michael A. Kaminski

  4. Laboratoire Mixte CNRS-CEA, Centre des Faibles Radioactivités, Avenue de la Terrasse, F-91190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Laurent Labeyrie

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© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Altabet, M.A., Francois, R. (1994). The Use of Nitrogen Isotopic Ratio for Reconstruction of Past Changes in Surface Ocean Nutrient Utilization. In: Zahn, R., Pedersen, T.F., Kaminski, M.A., Labeyrie, L. (eds) Carbon Cycling in the Glacial Ocean: Constraints on the Ocean’s Role in Global Change. NATO ASI Series, vol 17. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78737-9_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78737-9_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-78739-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-78737-9

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